21 Jump Street Familiar, Funny

Don't expect much inspiration from 21 Jump Street—but be ready for plenty of laughs. The story of a pair of cops who go undercover as high school students, based on the 1980s TV show, has critics in a pretty good mood.

• In the New York Post, Kyle Smith calls it "the funniest movie I’ve seen in more than a year." It's everything rolled into one: "a buddy comedy, a physical comedy, an action comedy and a nonstop raunchy verbal riff."

• "Though no conceptual ground is broken that wasn’t already trampled and scorched in the Harold and Kumar movies, the whole mess is silly, spirited and, yes, smart enough to work," observes AO Scott in the New York Times. It's "an example of how formula-driven entertainment can succeed."
• "What this fast, cheeky, and very funny interpretation of the original premise sacrifices in teachable moments, it makes up for in intelligent giddiness," writes Lisa Schwarzbaum in Entertainment Weekly. And Channing Tatum has "bust-out talents as a really funny, self-aware comic actor."
• Indeed, it's "no cheeseball reboot," writes Peter Travers in Rolling Stone. It's got "a playful spark all its own. It's a blast."

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